Washboard



E. L. YUNCKER.

WASHBOARD.

APPLICATION FILED MN. 4. |919.

1,314,297. Patented Aug. 26, 1919.

vewfon' ERVIN L. YUNcKnn, 'or poner: offrir,A KANSAS.

WASHBOAIRD.

Specification of Letters Patent. Ptentd Aug". 26, 1919.

Application med January 4, 1919. Serial No. 269,614.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, ERVIN L. YUNCKER, a citizen of the United States, residin at Dodge City, in the county of Ford and tate of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Washboards, nf which the followi is a specification.

This invention re ates to wash boards and i more particularly to the rubbing surfaces generally thereof. v

The object of the invention -is to'provide a wash board having a yieldable working face or mat formed with projections whereby to present a roughened surface. to the clothes and permit the latter to be thoroughly cleaned without danger of tearing or Imutilating the fabric during the Washing operation and without injury to the hands of the user.

The invention further aims to provide `novel means for securing the mat in position on the back plate and both in the side bars, and also to so construct said back plate that the upper and lower portions thereof serve to house and protect the ends of the mat.

A still further object of the invention is to improve this class of devices so as to increase their utility, durability and efficiency.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a wash board provided with a 'yieldable rubbing surface embodying the present'invention;

Fig. 2 is a detailed vertical sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detailed transverse sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a 'perspective view of the back plate of the wash board detached;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a modified form of the mat.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to inthe following descri tion and indicated in all the views of t e drawings yby the same reference characters.

The improved wash board forming the subject-matter of the present invention comprises spaced side bars 5 connected at their upper ends by atop piece 6 and having their lower ends shaped to form supporting le 7. Seated in channels 7 forme in the si e bars 5 and rigidi secured in any suitable manner as byn s or similar fastening devices 8, is a back4 plate 9. The back plate 9is preferably of integral formation and the central portion thereof is bulged or thickened to `provide a flatv face 10 over which extends a yieldable rubbing surface,

indicated as a whole at 11. Formed inthe opposite ends of the back plate 9 are incllned seating grooves 12 adapted to receive the adjacent ends of the rubbing surface 11, said grooves defining overhanging retaining lips 13 which bear against and serve to house and protect the adjacent ends of said rubbing surface. The bottoms ofthe grooves are spaced from the adjacent ends of the back plate while the rear walls at the open ends of the grooves gradually merge into the fiat face 10, as indicated at 14, so as not to present any sharp projections which would tend to cut or otherwise mutilate the rubbing surface. Therubbing surface 11 is a mat preferably molded or otherwise formed of rubber and the rear face thereof is provided with a canvas backing 15, while the front face is provided with a plurality of spaced substantially frusto pyramidal projections 16. By means of these or similar projections of rubber, suilicient friction' is produced between the said surface and the clothes to insure thorough washin thereof without danger of tearing or ot erwise mutilating the fabric and without liability of laceratlng or otherwise injuring the hands of the user. The frusto pyramidal projections are preferably omitted at the opposite ends of the rubbing surface or mat 11 so as to have plain margins 10 to enter the seating grooves 12, and it will here be noted that when the margins are seated fully within' -to ,tear or otherwise mutilate the clothes.

The opposite side edges of the mat also havin plain margins which, together with the sides of the back board 9, fit within the channels 7 of the side bars 5, as best shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, so that the mat is securely held from both longitudinal and lateral displacement. y

The opposite ends of the back plate 9 above and below the face 10 thereof are preferably reduced in .thickness so that when the rubbing mat is positioned on the face 10 the intermediate portion will lie in a perpendicular plane while the'opposite ends thereof will recede in the direction of the upper and lower ends of the wash board, as best shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, and thus facilitate drainage and also present a substantially convex rubbing surface to the clothes.

In Fig. 5 of the drawings there is illustrated a modified form of the invention in which the yieldable rubbing surface is composed of transverse lcorrugations 8 and it will be understood that this form of rubbing surfaceor any other form may be employed in lieu of that shown in Fig. 1 if desired.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A wash-board comprising side bars having channels in their inner faces, a back plate having transverse grooves in its front face near its upper and lower ends, each oblique to the plane` of said face so as to prevlde an overhanging lip, the face being flat throughout most of its area and receding into and merging with the rear `walls of said grooves, and a mat made up of a canvas backing and a superposed yieldable body having plain margins and'a projecting roughened rubbing surface over the remainder of its area, its upper and lower margins seated in said grooves withthe endmost projections against said lips, and its side margins together with the edges of the back plate seated in said channels with the extreme lateral projections against the inner faces of the side bars.'

In testimony whereof-I affix `my signature.

ERVIN L. YUNCKER. [1.. 8.] 

